News Summaries for December 23

Hart Named to Space Authority Board (Source: CSA)
Cathy Hart, leader of the Antelope Valley Board of Trade, has been named to the board of the state's space advocacy body. The California Space Authority announced Thursday that Hart is joining the authority's 21-member board. The authority is a nonprofit corporation charged with promoting the state's space industry and is designated by the state as its spaceport authority. The board's membership includes representation from the military, industry, government and academia.

Air Force Seeks Contractor For "Space Fence" (Source: LaunchSpacce.com)
The Air Force is conducting a survey to locate potential sources to operate, maintain and support the Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS). The Air Force Space Surveillance System, known as the "Space Fence", is a multistatic radar system that detects orbital objects passing over the United States. The main headquarters for the Space Fence are located in Dahlgren, Va., while radar stations are spread out across the continental United States.

Shuttle Lands in Florida (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Discovery overcame poor weather forecasts and successfully landed in Florida late Friday afternoon. Discovery landed at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on the second of two landing opportunities. The first landing opportunity had been waved off because of poor weather, and it appeared the shuttle would be forced to land in California or New Mexico, but conditions quickly improved in Florida to the point where shuttle managers gave approval for a landing at KSC, the preferred landing site.

A Near Miss (Source: Alamagordo Daily News)
White Sands Space Harbor had a close call Friday. It was disappointing not to be able to host a second shuttle landing there, but given NASA's misgivings it was understandable. The main drawbacks to using White Sands are the logistical problems with moving the shuttle back to Florida, and the presence of gypsum sand which can damage the spacecraft. So we won't be seeing too many shuttle landings out here. But there are other opportunities for local involvement in space flight.

At the same time White Sands was being mooted as the proposed landing site for the latest mission, the New Mexico Space Authority signed lease agreements for 18,000 acres to be used as a spaceport. Some have questioned the efficacy of the spaceport. Some have ridiculed the idea of using tax dollars to build a spaceport to blast gajillionaire space tourists into orbit. Such arguments miss the larger picture.

Boeing Gets $50M Military Satellite Deal (Source: USAF)
The Air Force has awarded a $50.6 million contract modification to Boeing for work on defense communication satellites. Boeing will deliver components for the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite. The work is scheduled for completion by June 2008.

DirecTV Deal Aids Media Moguls (Source: LA Times)
A long-awaited agreement reached Friday in which News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch gains a bigger stake in his own company by trading his satellite TV interests to former cable kingpin John Malone frees each man to pursue broader ambitions in his medium of choice. Murdoch expects faster growth in the Internet business than he does in U.S. satellite TV distribution. By solidifying control of News Corp., Murdoch can more easily seek out deals like the 2005 acquisition of the MySpace.com social networking site.

Meanwhile, Malone is unlikely to settle for the investment in El Segundo-based DirecTV Group Inc. that he gets from Murdoch. Malone is expected to try to merge DirecTV with rival EchoStar Communications Corp., operator of the Dish Network. He also may team with a telephone company to offer the broadband and phone services that cable operators sell.

Pentagon Cuts 'Space Fence' Funding (Source: InsideDefense.com)
The Pentagon has cut funding projected for upgrades to a system that tracks objects in space larger than 30 centimeters, leading to a re-evaluation of the program's schedule. The Space Fence program is meant to provide a radar system to replace the VHF "Fence" radar that currently performs detection of orbiting space objects. Upgrades were designed to provide a net-centric architecture that is capable of detecting much smaller objects in low/medium Earth orbit. Funding reductions will potentially require revisions in the upgrade schedule.